Starting this research I began with the assumption that the decision to put any type of surveillance equipment in a building would be based solely on protecting the schools financial assets. This, based on the research done in and around the Business building, proved true. The first camera that I noticed on the Business building is the one located in the outside stairwell leading down to the basement of the building where the computer commons are located. This camera looks old and I'd bet that it was not functional but it does look down the stair well at the entrance to the basement of the building. Probably watching people leaving the building. Based on the surrounding environment I have come to the conclusion that this camera is located where it is to record anybody trying to leave the building with school property.
The rest of the cameras inside the building seem to have the same function, recording property crime. Pointing in a direction that poorly defines public safety these cameras do a poor job to instill any feelings of safety. Many of the cameras are pointed towards the entrances recording the routes the average criminal would try to escape with a monitor under his arm. The cameras may be there to deter crime but since I could not find evidence of anyone watching them or the ability for the cameras to move automatically to watch a large area I can not see how they will do much to record violent crime. The cameras are in plain sight and can be easily avoided. The building is older than some of the other more “watched” buildings but that does not mean students can not be harmed here.
As I do this research I can not help but think of the armed guard who was murdered recently out front of the AMC in Awatukee. While the guard was being gunned down his (armed) partner sat in the truck and did nothing. The problem with this is that he did exactly what he had been trained to do. The money is more important than life and this situation has shown this in a terrible way. This says something about our society we live in and how we react to this society. This guard would rather his partner die than chance losing his own job, how selfish. I cannot help but see a correlation between this type of event and the placement of the so called security cameras placed around a campus where over 50,000 young adults spend a large amount of their young lives. The administration may say that the cameras are there for “our” safety but their actual locations and placement around campus and in the Business building show something different. Property has become more important than people…

If you would like more information about who, what, when, where, why, and how ASU places and regulates it use of surveilance cameras you can look for its official policy here: